Questionnaire for Tea Party

Dear Tea Party members,

In an effort to better understand the sentiments of your group and see where we, in the peace movement, might find common ground, we would appreciate it if you would answer a few questions. Thank you for your time.

o The Cold War has been over for 20 years, yet we maintain 800-plus bases around the world and have troops stationed in 148 countries at a cost of over $100 billion/year. Should we begin to dismantle this global web of bases?

o Every taxpayer has already spent, on average, $7,367 for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (http://www.costofwar.com). Now Obama plans to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, with a price tag of one million dollars per soldier per year. Do you think Congress should stop funding the wars and bring out troops home?

o Israel, a wealthy country, gets $3 billion a year from Uncle Sam with no strings attached and no accountability. The second largest recipient is the autocratic government of Egypt. Should Congress cut the foreign aid budget by cutting funds to Israel and Egypt?

O Private security contractors in war zones make way higher salaries than US soldiers and with little accountability, undermining our reputation overseas. Should we phase out private security contractors in war zones and return those jobs to the U.S. military?

o Experts on the left and the right say we could cut our military budget by 25%, including closing foreign bases, winding down the wars, and ending obsolete weapons systems, without jeopardizing our security. Do you agree?

o If we could make significant cuts to the military budget, how should those funds be reallocated? To pay down the debt? Increase security at home? Rebuild our infrastructure? Stimulate the economy through tax breaks?

o Do you think people on the left and right of the political spectrum can work together to trim the bloated Pentagon budget?

If you are willing to be a part of a continued dialogue on this issue, please give us your name, email and/or phone. Thank you.

Name and contact info:



CODEPINK, www.codepink.org, info@codepinkalert.org, 415-235-6517

There Are No Goodbyes

I just wanted to briefly abuse my posting privileges here and say goodbye to the Pink House. I will never forget that great space full of joy, love, action, energy and creativity.

A big thanks and hug to Des for being my surrogate mama when I was in DC, and to everybody I met who taught and inspired me so much. You all rock, you wonderful Pink sisters and brothers doing the good works our nation and world need.

An era has ended, the journey continues.

Peace and respect,
ntodd
Green Mountain Code Pink

DC Pink House Transition

Three years ago, on March 1, 2007, we opened the doors to a brick townhouse in the northeast quadrant of DC and decided to call it home. Little did we know in the years to come this 5-bedroom house near Capitol Hill would become a ground zero for CODEPINK activism in the halls of Congress. We not only brought a flash of hot pink to the sea of drab gray and black Congressional suits, but we broke through the inside-the-beltway politics with a refreshing dash of people power. The costs of maintaining the house and paying the rent have become an overwhelming burden for CODEPINK and we must now move on from the house into the next course of action. The Pink House will close at the end of February, 2010, but CODEPINK in DC will maintain a virbant presence and invites activists to join powerful actions in March in the beltway!

Read the full story of the Pink House and find out how to get active with CODEPINK in DC here:
http://codepink4peace.org/blog/2010/02/packing-up-the-pink-house/